RSS feeds allow the a user to find out * when a website has been update *
A growing number of websites have the following buttons to enable an RSS feed - these buttons enable the subscriber to be "fed" the updates on the particular site.
How do I use RSS? What do I need to "subscribe"?
When you find an RSS feed for a site you like, you will subscribe to the feed in order to be notified. You *must* have a tool that can read these RSS feeds-
they swallow what the site is "feeding".
These tools are often referred to as "News Aggregators", "RSS Readers" or "News Readers". There are an abundance of tools out there. I use NewsGator (www.newsgator.com), because it works inside MS Outlook. Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) is web-based and very popular too. List of them here: LockerGnome's RSS Resource
How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?
First- you need an aggregator as described above. Then, the single thing you'll need is the URL (link) for the site's RSS feed.
Usually, you can click the little "XML" or "RSS" button and it will display a bunch of code- don't worry about the code. What you need is the web site address that appears when you click the XML button.
It usually looks like: http://www.sitename.com/index.rdf or http://www.sitename.com/index.xml . Once you have that address, you add it to your aggregator and you're all set as a subscriber. Aggregators make the subscription process easier in varied ways.
OK, but I don't like weblogs- what can RSS do for me?
Now we're getting to what's causing the buzz. Increasingly, all kinds of web sites are adding RSS feeds. For instance, I get notified when iTunes adds a new artist in the genre I like. In the future, more and more people will browse the web subscribing to RSS feeds for their favorite sites.
Further, many think that the days of email newsletters are numbered because people will eventually use RSS instead. Examples of non-weblog RSS feeds:
In looking at these various uses- think about all the ways these RSS style notifications could be used- in company Intranets, when your item sells on eBay, when a reply has been posted to your discussion in an online community, etc. The uses are limitless.
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Personally, I use Google Reader as an aggregator to stay up to date, and have linked an RSS feed on this site on the home page. Google Reader
*
You can add an RSS feed option to your website or blog, so that people can be up to date with what is going on!!!!
The following is taken from: RSS Feeds from Common Craft
What is all this RSS Feed Business?????
RSS feeds allow the a user to find out * when a website has been update *
A growing number of websites have the following buttons to enable an RSS feed - these buttons enable the subscriber to be "fed" the updates on the particular site.
How do I use RSS? What do I need to "subscribe"?
When you find an RSS feed for a site you like, you will subscribe to the feed in order to be notified. You *must* have a tool that can read these RSS feeds-
they swallow what the site is "feeding".
These tools are often referred to as "News Aggregators", "RSS Readers" or "News Readers". There are an abundance of tools out there. I use NewsGator (www.newsgator.com), because it works inside MS Outlook. Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) is web-based and very popular too. List of them here: LockerGnome's RSS Resource
How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?
First- you need an aggregator as described above. Then, the single thing you'll need is the URL (link) for the site's RSS feed.
Usually, you can click the little "XML" or "RSS" button and it will display a bunch of code- don't worry about the code. What you need is the web site address that appears when you click the XML button.
It usually looks like: http://www.sitename.com/index.rdf or
http://www.sitename.com/index.xml . Once you have that address, you add it to your aggregator and you're all set as a subscriber. Aggregators make the subscription process easier in varied ways.
OK, but I don't like weblogs- what can RSS do for me?
Now we're getting to what's causing the buzz. Increasingly, all kinds of web sites are adding RSS feeds. For instance, I get notified when iTunes adds a new artist in the genre I like. In the future, more and more people will browse the web subscribing to RSS feeds for their favorite sites.
Further, many think that the days of email newsletters are numbered because people will eventually use RSS instead.
Examples of non-weblog RSS feeds:
- The Village Voice
- Apple Computer
- National Weather Service
- Wired News
- Yahoo! Buzz Index
- More Here...
In looking at these various uses- think about all the ways these RSS style notifications could be used- in company Intranets, when your item sells on eBay, when a reply has been posted to your discussion in an online community, etc. The uses are limitless.*
Personally, I use Google Reader as an aggregator to stay up to date, and have linked an RSS feed on this site on the home page.
Google Reader
*
You can add an RSS feed option to your website or blog, so that people can be up to date with what is going on!!!!